Question about a high gravity beer

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gomb

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Im pretty new to brewing, only been at it a year. About 4 months ago i made a strawberry beer that had some faults but the aroma and flavor were dead on. I did not get readings on this beer so i could only tell by the buzz that it was higher in alcohol. I brewed it again last week and got the OG this time. 1.100.. yikes. I figured when i pitched that the WLP001 was not going to finish the beer off, but it was all i had. It fermented quickly, and all activity was stopped, so i dry hopped it yesterday. Gravity has falled to 1.036. The question is do i leave it alone like that or do i get something like a sweet mead yeast and try to finish it off?
Particulars of the beer: ambient temp around 78, extract brew, extra light DME, honey and frozen strawberries used as fermentables.
 
There are a couple things you could try. We just made an approx 20% double IPA and we used our normal yeast. We later pitched a champagne yeast and then the WL099 High gravity yeast. Your best bet would probably be champagne yeast, as it'll get you past that 1030 mark. We have used it in our cherry beer that started at 1.100 and got it down to 1.025. Good luck and keep us posted on your results.......
 
I have a similar problem with my Gulden Draak clone which I've already kegged and carbed, just haven't served. It's stuck at 1031 and I'd like to try champagne yeast to get it down into the mid 1020's. I wonder if I pitch a packet in the corny keg whether the blowoff valve is protection enough against a potential disaster.
 
my worry is that the champagne yeast will dry out the beer and kill alot of the fruit flavor that people really liked the first run of this beer for. Thats why i was thinking a sweet mead yeast WLP720? to finish it rather than the champagne. I have a buddy that used champagne yeast in a mead he made and i am really not a fan of the dryness that it has.
 
Since you added all the extra already you might not want to mess with it now. If you rebrew however, don't add the strawberries until its done fermenting. Our cherry wheat, the cherries are added to the secondary, after primary has gone for 7-10 days. We get a little extra fermentation from those sugars, but not alot and it doesnt taste at all dry. Just a thought. Hope it works out for you.

I don't have any experience using a mead yeast, so I can't comment on that. Good luck!
 
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